...You are going to tell me that a band that plays every other tiki event, like the smoking menehunes, shouldn't play at tiki oasis? 2004 was the last time, bud. We are probably the only band around playing vintage hawaiian music, and oasis has had punk and ska bands playing but not us. What, do we suck that bad?

Lucas, you keep using Tiki Oasis as a barometer of your Tiki worthiness. That is a big mistake !! T.O. seems to be less about Tiki and more about the theme.

I think for a lot of people this year's T.O. was more like...

"James Bond ?? Cool, I love James Bond !! Now give me my free Tiki drink so I can get shitfaced."

OK, so maybe I'm exaggerating here. Personally I love to connect the mid-century pop cultural dots to Tiki that Otto challenges us to rediscover. To me that's almost as fun as actually attending the event itself. Very few people however, share that same geeky introspection.

Next year's "Hulabilly" theme looks like it's going to be really cool. Not only to highlight a Poly Pop musical genre that Spike's been ahead of the curve now for almost a decade, but also to educate people on Hawaiian music's impact on overall American culture.

I know this is a MAJOR oversimplification but it might go something like this: Hawaiian Steel Guitar --> Early Country --> Western Swing --> Rockabilly --> Rock and Roll --> Punk (ha, ha, I threw that one in for ATP). Also I'm sure Rhythm and Blues fits in there somewhere but we should save that for the Blaxploitation Tiki Oasis.

So Lucas, if you want to really play T.O. 2013, here's what you have to do. Go with the flow !!...

Change the name of the band to the "Smokin' Corn Cobs", affect a 1970's "Hee Haw" look, change the set list to include only Hapa Haole covers of Country songs, and replace Tiki Bong with Billy Bob Bong.

Make that the STEEL guitar, originally known as the Hawaiian steel guitar, even during Moon's era.
Slide guitar is a whole 'nuther animule.
Sorry to be anal, butt steelers prefer the fret lines not to be blurred.

I have copies or at least know of a number of Country, Western/Cowboy, Hillbilly artists that recorded Hawaiian style music as well as other types of specialty numbers. When JOHN-O bumped this thread with the news that next year's TO would have a Hulabilly theme, I started to compile a list with links to online versions of all the Country Early Rock & Roll songs I know that have a South Seas/Hawaiian theme, etc.

Unfortunately, not all the songs are online other than maybe short snippets on Amazon, I couldn't find songs like Shorty Long's "Let's All Go To Hawaii" or "South Sea Island Tears," "Hawaiian Honeymoon" by either Hank Penny or the Tune Wranglers, "Sweet Hawaii" by Laurel & Miles, nor Jimmy Newman's "Dreamland Island." Some of the songs I was planning on, JOHN-O beat me to it, on "Hillbilly Hula," "Hula Boogie," "Hawaiian Boogie," " Bop-A-Hula," "Me-Rock-A-Hula," and "Hawaiian Rock & Roll" anyway.

What follows is a list of some that haven't been mentioned yet. Some are either Western/Country artists singing/playing strictly Hapa Haole music, others are Hawaiian/Exotically themed songs by Western/Country artists, and some others could definately be classified as Hulabilly. I've even thrown in some just for fun stuff that isn't necessarily Hillbilly/Country/Western or Hulabilly/Rockabilly, some Rock & Roll with steel guitar by artists trained in Hawaiian steel guitar techniques and did record some Hawaiian music.

And away we go...

Other than the song "Hillbilly Hula" that JOHN-O posted earlier, Jenks "Tex" Carman also had...

Because at the time (following WW2 and the Korean Conflict) with so many young servicemen stationed all over the globe, and some returning home with foreign brides, they were just considered to be in a theme of American boys falling for exotic girls in foreign lands. Distinguishing between the nationalities of the women in these types of songs wasn't as important then as we may consider it to be now. The foreign/exotic origins of the women were on an equal level in these songs. Polynesian, Philippine, or Japanese it was all the same.

Some may feel they fit in with the other Hawaiian themed Country tunes, the more purist individual's opinion may differ. I only offer them here to acknowlege their existance in the context of Country artists recording songs of non-Country/Western themes, not to say they are Hulabilly or Tiki. Plus it enabled me to mention the practice of the "answer song."

He wasn't a country boy (hillbilly), so technically doesn't fit the original definition of Rockabilly, "Rock & Roll sung by Country/Hillbilly artists," but the song jumps and I think some would say that this is at least Rockabilly, can the beach party theme qualify it as Hulabilly?

No discussion of steel guitar and Hawaiian influences in Rock & Roll songs would be complete without a mention of Santo & Johnny Farina. Many of their recorded songs are covers of other artist's hits or popular music of the time, but they did write some of their own tunes, and quite a lot of their music is slower ballads rather than uptempo.

*Edit - "There are but three "L"s in "Hulabilly," two "L"s be not enough, yet four be too many, yea verily I say unto you that the numbering of the "L"s shall be three, three in total, do not suffer an over abundance of "L"s, neither condone the scarcity of two, a trinity of "L"s is all that is ordered, so sayeth the Bear."
Bear's letter to the Tikiphiles Ch 1 v 3

No, I have not. But after listening, I believe they sound more like the band Exotiki...which to my ears, are better then they are.

I stand by what I said. Spike had the idea 8-9 years ago. The Hula Girls is a band where pretty much most of the original songs are a rockabilly/hawaiian mix. A lot of the bands on this thread have done 1 or 2 songs, as a novelty. Spike's entire band, The Hula Girls, is dedicated to this concept.

And I pretty much can bet that in the months before tiki oasis, and after, there will be a slew of bands copying the Hula Girls. Then you will know how influencial they are.

I just figured there must be someone here on TC who was fan of Country, Rockabilly, and Poly Pop, and could provide the additional musical cross references that you did.

I haven't drilled down into all of the links yet but I'm sure they'll provide a lot of cool breadcrumbs for additional research.

And I'm glad you did that comparison of steel vs. slide, I noticed that Otto made that boo boo as well.

"Hula Rock and Roll" by Angeline and Hawaii's Teen Towners was fun. I think that would be a good song for the Ding Dong Devils to cover. I could see either Nepheria or Puka Von Pele doing the lead vocals.

I just figured there must be someone here on TC who was fan of Country, Rockabilly, and Poly Pop, and could provide the additional musical cross references that you did.

I must have missed this thread when you first started it, sorry it took two years for more songs to be brought to folks attention. Thanks for starting it and keeping it alive until I could mine my music collection and wrack my memory for artists and songs. Still working on it, I know there's more out there. Vague shadowy misty watercolor memories...

Since my father was born and raised in Texas, Country & Western was a part of the aural environment in my youth. Mom was born and raised in SoCal, she liked a pretty wide range of music too. I grew up with quite an eclectic taste in music thanks to my parents tastes.

Quote:

On 2012-09-01 11:34, JOHN-O wrote:And I'm glad you did that comparison of steel vs. slide, I noticed that Otto made that boo boo as well.

Oy!!

OK, I went back and added "Slack Key Guitar" to the comparison of styles so that people can hear the differences between them. Slack Key style being younger than Hawaiian Steel by a number of decades (to my mind something like 50 years?), it should never be confused with Hawaiian Steel.

Quote:

On 2012-09-01 11:34, JOHN-O wrote:"Hula Rock and Roll" by Angeline and Hawaii's Teen Towners was fun. I think that would be a good song for the Ding Dong Devils to cover. I could see either Nepheria or Puka Von Pele doing the lead vocals.

Yeah, there are songs I hear and think "this would be a good one for ... to cover," as well. There's one from the Big Band era that I think The Hula Girls could really do a rocking version of. You have to imagine it re-orchestrated for the band though. It really bounces.

Spike, I'm glad I could share it with more people, so many folks know "Sleep Walk" but have no idea who Santo & Johnny are or that they wrote and recorded other just as awesome (or better in the case of "Tear Drop") songs.

Otto, please book "The King of Twang" for Oasis 2013 (Hey, if the Untouchables are "Spy" then Duane Eddy is Hulabilly. )

JOHN-O,

I'm sure that with his huge interest in Instro Surf music, Jeff(bigtikidude) is probably also a fan of artists like Chet Atkins, Bill Justis and Duane Eddy as most of their music was Instro, and all three were on the charts at one time or another during their decades long careers. Sadly, Atkins and Justis are no longer with us, but I wonder if Jeff has ever considered inviting Eddy or even Junior Brown to his "Surf Guitar 101" event?

Yeah... Ol' Jenks "Tex" Carman is a problematical artist. He's one of those guys you really wish at times that you could disavow, but when it comes to Hawaiian musical influences on Country artists, unfortunately he's in the thick of it. His sense of rhythm has been questioned, and the meter of his... Uhh... "Unique" singing style is irregular at best (I won't even attempt to describe his voice), which made him one of the most unlikeliest of stars.

I understand how you may have been unable to pick-up on the Poly-Pop reference of that song, The tune is decidedly "Honky Tonk" in it's musical style, and the spelling of 'Luwanna' making it appear "Trailer Parky," throws another jinx (or should that be "Jenks?") into the mix. It doesn't really transport you to a tropical isle, does it? Yet, if you think abut the more traditional spelling of 'Luana' and can get past his fingernails-on-a-blackboard-like caterwauling (OK, so I came up with a description) to listen to the lyric...

Quote:

My sweet Luwanna
I love you yet
My sweet Luwanna
I still can't forget
The love light in your eye
The flower in your hair
Your lei of orchids
And sweet music in the air

My sweet Luwanna
With your coal black hair
The scent of gardenia
Was still in the air
When I held you tight
And kissed you goodnight
I left an angel
When I left you there

(rockin' guitar solo here)

My sweet Luwanna
With your coal black hair
The scent of gardenia
Was still in the air
When I held you tight
And kissed you goodnight
I left an angel
When I left you there

As you can see, with it's mention of a flower in her coal black hair, a lei of orchids, the scent of gardenia, coupled with the alternate spelling of 'Luana,' the lyric implies a Polynesian woman despite the Honky Tonk sound of the music, at least to me it does. Honest, I wouldn't intentionally give you a bum steer...

Just to let everyone know, I went through and carefully listened to that song, even backed it up several times on some of the more difficult to make out lines, and faithfully transcribed that lyric just so people could read them. Never let it be said I never "took one" for the TC Ohana.

Now for one of the reasons everyone has been following this thread, more tunes...

Sonny Cole & The Rhythm Roamers (no bio found)...

Robinson Crusoe Bop - Lyrics I really kinda like this one quite a bit. There has been much debate and speculation over the original inspiration of Defoe's novel. One that has been considered possible is the story of Alexander Selkirk who was stranded for 4 years on one of the Juan Fernández Islands off the Chilean coast in the South Pacific Ocean. I'm going with that one for the purely arbitrary reason of then being able to include this song as Hulabilly on a little bit more than just the "Shipwreck" theme which has loose ties to Tiki.

Dobro Chimes It's eerily similar to "Maui Chimes" or vice versa. A Dobro is a brand name resonator guitar, it can be played like a regular guitar or played flat, Hawaiian Steel style. Resonators are still popular with Hawaiian, Blues, Cajun, and Bluegrass artists to this day. "Uncle Josh" Graves did another version of this tune called "Steel Guitar Chimes" It's almost a chicken/egg conundrum that can only be settled by copyright dates on the music, release dates on recordings, or written accounts of the dates the tunes being first played.

Love that this thread started. As fan of RAB since the 80's but pretty new to the tiki scene, I always thought there was a way to blend my love of rockabilly and 1950's poly pop culture but was not aware of anyone doing so. Like I said, I'm new to tiki culture. Anyway, in 2011 I got to see the Hula Girls play at TO 2011 at the car show and realized instantly that they were the sound and aesthetic that I'd hoped existed. Now with TO 2013 being the hulabilly theme, I feel this is the fried peanut butter and banana sandwich I'd been waiting for. The Hula Girls are a no brainer, but is there anyone else still alive that would fit the bill for the theme? There are numerous rockabilly bands we could all list, but it doesn't seem like any as influenced by tiki culture as the Hula Girls. Maybe Big Sandy/ fly rite boys since he was at TO 2011 and I saw a dvd where he was wearing an aloha shirt and lei....Total stretch I know.

He should have trademarked the term "Hulabilly" to get paid royalties on Tiki Oasis 2013. :D

John-O,
Once again, great work defining the theme!! Great set list.
Not sure where I first heard the term Hulabilly, but have long been interested in this niche genre referred to as "Tikibilly" by Del Villareal http://www.facebook.com/del.villarrealwho I met in 1996. There was also a band called Hulabilly about 8 years ago.
The reason I used Hulabilly instead of Tikibilly is I didn't want to pay royalties to Del!

neat to see this thread (even though it seems i am a few years late in finding it).

i dove head first into figuring out hillbilly hawaiian tunes for hooptylau in 2006 - when we explored pollardville (the old stockton islander building which turned into "chicken kitchen" before it was closed down/torn down).

this was the list of songs on the hooptylau cd i made for the event. i'm pretty sure you have all covered these songs already in this thread;

i wish i could someday catch spike's band. it's sad that we were in school together and never knew of eachother (and obviously were the ones pissing off eachother at the thrift stores for grabbing the tiki mugs before the other).

interesting to see TO this year to go this theme! ha! to make it more authentic, they should hold it in modesto.